American Horror Story: 1984 – True Killers

By: Kelly Kearney

As the targeted counselors at Camp Redwood plan their escape, a major twist is revealed that muddies the lines between the real killers and their victims. What started as a simple camp slasher story has morphed into an all-female murder spree that nobody could’ve predicted. Hold on to your bug spray, campers, this killer reveal will leave you itching for more!

In the Midnight Hour…

As Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” blasts from the aerobics boombox, we flashback to Montana (Billie Lourd) who’s getting her workout on with a new member of her class. Richard Ramirez (Zach Villa) loves a good Idol song, as well as a mouthy blonde, both of which he gets from Montana’s workout session. After a guy insults her during class, Richard shows Montana his affection by killing the rude man and stringing him up in the locker room like a gift wrapped present. Montana is impressed. Nobody has ever killed for her and the fact this dark and brooding gym rat has makes him all that more attractive to her. To show her appreciation, Montana offers up her body to The Night Stalker who happily devours her beneath his blood-soaked gift.

After their sex romp, Montana reveals a huge secret when she asks her Satan worshipping boy toy if he would kill for her again. Apparently, the aerobics goddess is the sister of the man Brooke’s fiancé killed – his best man, the one he accused of sleeping with his bride before their wedding. Montana is convinced Brooke (Emma Roberts) slept with her brother and in doing so shoved him in the line of her fiancé’s fire. Now she wants the woman to pay for the Hell she unleashed on her dearly departed brother and thinks Richard might be the one to do it. Still tingling from their hot steamy roll in the gym mats, Richard agrees to kill Brooke and promises to “make her suffer.”

Two killers, One Camp…

In present day Camp Redwood we see Richard and Montana argue in the woods over why Brooke is still alive. Time is ticking on her revenge plot, especially now that there’s another killer on the loose. When The Night Stalker hears that his idol Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch) is carving his way through the camp’s employees, he’s practically giddy with fanboy excitement. Montana doesn’t have time for Richard’s hero worship, they’re running out of time and Brooke needs to die.

Speaking of dead, an impaled Chet (Gus Kenworthy) isn’t doing so well and Trevor (Matthew Morrison), along with Xavier (Cody Fern), try to Pulp Fiction him back to life with a giant needle to the heart. The kickstart works and Chet comes to just in time to tell his rescuers about Ray (DeRon Horton) and his murderous college past. A shocked Xavier spills the beans about his own secrets, mainly his porn past, and that reminds him of Blake and the car he drove to the camp. It must still be nearby and if the guys can find the keys they have a ride out of Redwood before they end up dead. Trevor decides to go grab Margaret (Leslie Grossman) and Chef Bertie (Tara Karsian) while Xavier gets the keys from Blake. In the meantime, they give Chet a Swiss Army knife and leave the injured man to fend for himself. Things don’t go as planned when Margaret refuses to leave camp. She’s too invested in this reopening and, besides, she has a gun and can handle any threats that come her way. Equally doomed is Chef Bertie, who is making bologna sandwiches and laughing about Xavier’s boogeyman stories. Cue the beast himself! Mr. Jingles enters Bertie’s canteen as Xavier runs to hide. Bertie wonders, “Benjamin, what are you doing here? I didn’t know they let you out?” The Chef stays calm and offers Jingles his favorite meal, a PB&J with the crusts, but Benjamin prefers his crusts cut off and his meals uninterrupted. Their somewhat friendly chat, which mostly consists of information about Margaret, is cut short when Mr. Jingles realizes Xavier is hiding under a table. He attacks the porn star, but Bertie winds up taking the brunt of Benjamin’s homicidal rage. In the midst of the fight Jingles manages to knock Xavier out and when he comes to he finds himself trapped in an oven with the temperature rising.

What Makes a Killer?

Back To Brooke, she’s just realized Nurse Rita is not who she says she is when the woman reveals her true identity and then locks her in a cabin. Brooke escapes but doesn’t make it far thanks to a net trap in a tree that swoops up and dangles her above the ground. Dr. Chambers (Angelica Ross) emerges from the trees and comes clean about her study on serial killers and what makes them tick. She explains she brought Mr. Jingles to the camp so she could “study the apex predator in the wild.” Brooke is the bait to catch her case study in the bloody act.

Meanwhile, Xavier is burning to a crisp in the oven. But before he’s well done, he manages to break free just in time to help put Bertie out of her misery. The woman is dying, with a knife dangling from her chest. She begs Xavier to finish her off. He gives in and once she’s dead the traumatized and half-baked porn star catches his reflection in the oven’s glass. To his horror he sees his beautiful face covered in burns. His future modeling career is over before it ever really began.

Out in the woods Brooke is screaming for help and Montana shows up and things go from bad to worse. She has no intention of saving the trapped girl, but she pretends to just long enough until her boyfriend can show up and finish her off. Montana isn’t the only one at the camp looking for revenge. We soon find out Margaret has an entire closet full of skeletons and Mr. Jingles, the man we thought was out for revenge, is one of them. In an epic twist to this demented story Margaret’s true calling is revealed and it has nothing to do with rebranding the deadly camp’s reputation. A flashback reveals Benjamin, or as Margaret called him “Benji Bear,” was in a relationship with the blonde before he went on his midnight rampage. The two camp outsiders found solace in each other and Benjamin went out of his way to show Margaret his love. For a serial killer, Benji Bear is practically a harmless kitten. He’s a soft-spoken sweetheart who promises Margaret he “would do anything to protect you.” Anything is a big promise, especially when it’s given to a woman with murder in her heart.

Back to the present and Montana finds Richard in the woods and brings him back to a trapped Brooke. Revenge is sweet and she wants a front row seat to this death. Their plan hits a snag when Mr. Jingles shows up and distracts Richard from his deadly duties. The two men start fighting, just as Montana spots Dr. Chambers hiding behind a bush and documenting the entire brawl. Montana attacks the psychologist and seemingly kills her. Likewise, Mr. Jingles gets the upper hand on Ramirez and impales him through the face on a tree branch. While this is going on Margaret is in her cabin and on her knees praying for “the strength to do thy will.” What is God’s will? Murder, of course. All is revealed when her Benji Bear shows up and Margaret admits she used him to cover for her crimes! Benjamin never killed those original camp counselors all those years ago, he was too weak. Margaret had to pick up his slack and do the deed he was too much of a softy to do! She killed all her camp bullies and set up Richter to take the fall. In her sick mind he did protect her when he took the fall for her crimes. Later, when he was admitted to the Asylum, Dr. Hopple (Orla Brady) administered electroshock treatment as well as filled his mind with crimes he never committed. He had no idea he was innocent, the memories he had were planted thanks to a well-orchestrated plot by Margaret and the doctor! The brainwashing worked because he thought it was his duty to continue the killing, he started ten years before. Only, he never was the killer and he was duped into committing these new kills by the evil Margaret! When he realizes she’s telling the truth, Benjamin loses it and stalks towards Margaret saying, “I am the monster you made me!” Unfortunately, Margaret is a bigger monster, and whips out her gun, shooting Benjamin dead. Or is he? More on that later…

Outside, the counselors all convene in the woods after hearing Margaret’s gun go off. They assume their boss is in trouble, but little do they know she is the trouble! Trevor gets to her first and finds her standing over Jingles’ body. He is impressed that the nerdy camp owner killed the famous maniac. That is until she turns her knife on Trevor! She kills the activities director and his death ignites her deadly desires that have laid dormant since the last camp slaughter she unleashed. She finishes the job by cutting Trevor’s ear off and adds it to her souvenir necklace.

Nobody Dies at Camp Redwood

While Margaret is doing arts and crafts with Trevor’s body parts, Xavier runs into a very alive Mr. Jingles! He isn’t the only one whose been resurrected as Ramirez and Dr. Chambers are alive too. The fact nobody seems to stay dead for long poses the question: Is Camp Redwood not of this world? Is it a time warp? Is this an alien thing? Could this be some kind of purgatory and they’re all trapped and repeating their deaths? Why can’t people stay dead? We don’t get an answer on that, but soon the frantic counselors all join up with Margaret who is standing next to Blake’s burning car. She manages to convince them that she’s one of the good guys when she spins some story about escaping Jingles right as he killed Trevor. With no car and no real idea who they’re dealing with, the camp counselors are trapped with Margaret the feathered haired, bible preaching and very unsuspecting killer. Not that death should scare them. Death gets a reboot at this camp. Nobody’s dying tonight. Well…nobody but Trevor who’s still dead and earless in Margaret’s cabin. At least he seems to be anyway. When it comes to this season of “AHS,” nothing is what it appears to be.